Evaluation of Commercial Immunodiffusion Reagents for Detecting Serum Anti-Paracoccidioides Antibodies.

BACKGROUND:Accurate diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis is crucial for improving patient outcomes. Paracoccidioides antibody detection by double immunodiffusion (DID) is a convenient diagnostic tool, but testing performance can vary based on certain factors.METHODS:We assessed DID performance using a commercially prepared Paracoccidioides reagents (IMMY, USA), involving 40 serum specimens, including 20 from patients with proven paracoccidioidomycosis and 20 from patients without the disease. The DID test demonstrated a sensitivity of 90% (95% CI=68%-99%) and a specificity of 100% (95% CI=83%-100%).CONCLUSIONS:Our findings suggest that DID using commercial reagents may provide a feasible tool with satisfactory testing performance for anti-Paracoccidioides antibody detection.